Author: Kumar Govindan

I am the first Graduate - an Engineer - in the family; the first to be employed in the Government Sector, India; the first to go overseas for work - USA; the first to throw it all and become an Entrepreneur (and fail); the first to get back to work - this time with the Tata Group, India - after 4 years of chasing 'business dreams'; and, the first to pick-up the Entrepreneur thread again. I now run a Women's Apparel design and styling Boutique - Mavira Designs - along with my wife. The objective of my Blog is to tell my story, intermingled with news stories from all corners of the World, with wit and pun - to squeeze a few laughs, perhaps a smile. I'm sure you will enjoy the reading.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-37

About: the world this week, 10 September to 16 September 2023; G20 and Sherpas; Morocco’s Earthquake; Libya’s floods; Bravehearts in the Indian Army and Police; a virus Outbreak; US Open Tennis, and Asian Cup Cricket.

Everywhere

G20

This week, the Group of Twenty Nations (G20) Summit 2023, under the presidency of India, concluded in New Delhi on 10th September, with significant outcomes. India pulled-off a stunning diplomatic consensus and delivered a signed Declaration, in keeping with the motto of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, of this year’s summit.

The African Union was admitted into the G20. Prior to this, the only African member was South Africa. Now the African Union, which represents the 55 countries in the African continent, was given full membership, like how the European Union (EU) is represented.

A commitment was made to develop a new, India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that will bridge ports across two continents, making it easier to trade, export clean energy, and expand access to reliable clean electricity.

The IMEC will consist of two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Arabian Gulf to Europe. It will include a railway, which will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network. And supplement existing maritime and road transport routes-enabling goods and services to transit to, from, and between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe. Along the railway route, participants will enable laying cables for electricity and digital connectivity, as well as pipes for clean hydrogen export. This corridor will secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, improve trade facilitation, and support an increased emphasis on environmental social, and government impacts. And unlock sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the region.

This IMEC project falls under the umbrella of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), an initiative led by Western nations to support infrastructure projects worldwide.

The IMEC corridor could become a viable alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has steadily established global connectivity linkages with the Chinese market through extensive shipping, rail, and road networks, since its conception 10 years ago.

The G20 leaders agreed to pursue tripling renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, and accepted the need to phase-down unabated coal power, but stopped short of setting major climate goals. And did not provide any plan to amend existing policies and targets in order to achieve the target of ramping-up of renewables.

On the Russian-Ukraine War, G20 nations agreed that states cannot grab territory by force and highlighted the suffering of the people of Ukraine, but avoided direct criticism of Russia.

How does such a consensus happen? Who works to get the diverse nations to agree? They are brought about by ‘Sherpas’.

A Sherpa is the personal representative of a Head of Government, who prepares an international summit. They are quite influential, but without the authority to make a final decision about any given agreement. Typically, each member nation at a summit-say the G20-is represented by one Sherpa chosen by the head of the respective participating nation.

The name is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as mountaineering guides and porters in the Himalayas: they do all the heavy lifting so that the person they assist may ‘reach the summit’.

India’s G20 Sherpa was Amitab Kant who divulged that the most complex part of the entire G20 was to bring consensus on the Russia-Ukraine War. This was done over 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts.

That’s a lot of toil and ‘carrying work on the back’.

Earthquake in Morocco

Last week, on Friday, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Marrakesh – a city of world heritage status- in Morocco. In remote mountain areas, entire villages were flattened.

The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains, 71 kilometres (km) south-west of Marrakesh. But the tremors were also felt in the capital Rabat, some 350 km away, as well as Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira.

It was the North African country’s deadliest earthquake since 1960 and its most powerful in more than a century.

This week, the death toll soared to more than 2900, while the number of people injured climbed to over 5400.

Help and relief is pouring-in from countries around the world.

Floods in Libya

Libya has been mired in conflict and chaos since the year 2011 when longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising that broke the North African state and spawned myriad rival militias competing for power.

This week, a catastrophic flood killed thousands of people in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, sweeping away entire neighbourhoods with their residents, and washing many bodies out to sea. Thousands of people are missing. Officials believe that there could be 18000 to 20000 dead, based on the number of districts hit.

The reason is said to be the powerful Storm Daniel that swept into Libya last weekend, unleashing record amounts of rain as it made landfall. The rain dumped by the storm filled a normally dry riverbed, or wadi, in the hills south of Derna. The pressure was too much for two dams built to protect the city from floods. They collapsed, unleashing a torrent that ran through the city.

Bravehearts

This week, in a devastating encounter with Pakistan backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Terrorists, three Officers, including two from the Indian Army and a Policeman were killed in action. The Army and Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Police had launched a joint search operation for terrorists hiding in the Garol Forest, Kokernag in Anantnag District, when they came under heavy fire in the rugged terrain and dense forest. In the gun-fight during the fierce encounter, Bravehearts Colonel Manpreet Singh and Major Aashish Dhonchak of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles along with J&K Police Deputy Superintendent Himanyun Muzamil Bhat suffered gun-shot wounds, and later succumbed to their injuries.

There will be a ‘return of fire’, for sure, by the Army and the Police.

Outbreak

The State of Kerala is racing to contain a new outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus, in the district of Kozhikode, which has killed two people and infected at least six. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has its tails-up, visiting the areas, to review the status, conduct a scientific study on the source of the virus and detail the measures to be adopted to contain its spread.

Kerala has seen four outbreaks of Nipah since 2018, the last of which occurred in 2021.

Originally, the Nipah virus was discovered during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia in 1999, who might have contracted the virus through infected livestock and their secretions. In India the first Nipah virus disease outbreak was reported in Siliguri town in 2001, followed by a second outbreak in Nadia district in 2007 – both in the State of West Bengal. The next incidence was in 2018 in Kerala’s Kozhikode District.

Fruit Bats, known as Flying Foxes, are the natural host of the Nipah Virus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans – primarily from bats or pigs – or through human-to-human contact.

Transmission can occur from direct contact with infected animals, consuming contaminated food or through close contact with infected people.

Prevention can be by avoiding consumption of fruits partially eaten by bats, and avoiding drinking raw date palm sap, toddy, or juice. Risk of infection from fruits contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats can be prevented by thoroughly washing the fruits and peeling them before consumption.

Mild symptoms of the disease include fever and headaches, vomiting, sore throat, and muscle aches. In severe cases, it can be an acute infection of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), respiratory issues, seizures leading to personality changes or a coma.

The mortality rate is high, at 40 – 70% in Nipah virus cases, compared to Covid19 cases.

A study found that Kerala is particularly vulnerable to spill over of diseases from bats to humans. And it is the home of more than 40 species of bats.

There is no cure for the Nipah Virus caused infection and there is no vaccine to prevent infection. The treatment consists of simply managing the symptoms and ensuring those infected have as much rest as possible and stay hydrated.

US Open

The United States Open Tennis Championships – the US Open – is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Flushing Meadows -Corona Park, Queens, New York City. Chronologically, it is the fourth and final Grand Slam Tournament of the year – after the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon.

Nineteen years old American teenager Coco Gauff, the world No.10 women’s singles player, defeated Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a dramatic comeback, to win the Women’s Singles US Open final. This is her first career Grand Slam title.

Gauff, seeded sixth, started slowly in front of an expectant home crowd, but grew in confidence to wear down second seed Sabalenka in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In her run to the final, the Gauff twice lost the first set of a match, once in the first round against Laura Siegemund and again in the third round against Elise Mertens.

The star-studded crowd erupted with applause after Gauff’s home-turf victory which makes her the youngest and first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams took the title in 1999. Fans jumped to their feet in unison, as Gauff collapsed to the floor. Celebrations stretched all-across the US as celebrities, fellow tennis players, and several ex-Presidents gave the Coco Gauff their seal of approval as she fulfilled the potential she had first displayed as a 15-year-old defeating Venus Williams at Wimbledon.

With the victory, Gauff becomes the third American teenager to win the US Open title, joining Williams and Tracy Austin. She is set to move up to No. 3 in the WTA singles rankings, and co-No. 1 in doubles along with compatriot Jessica Pegula.

Gauff has won three WTA titles this season, including the biggest of her career in Cincinnati just before the US Open. The competition was the second Grand Slam final of Gauff’s career after reaching the French Open final in 2022, where she was swiftly defeated by Poland’s Iga Natalia Swiatek.

In the men’s singles Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated Russia’s Daniel Medvedev in straight sets to capture his fourth US Open title and his 24th Grand Slam title tying with Australia’s Margaret Court for the most in the history of tennis. He is one Grand Slam away from reaching a new pinnacle, which will be hard to beat.

Djokovic holds 10 Australian Open Titles, 3 French Open Titles, 7 Wimbledon Titles and 4 US Open Titles.

Asia Cup Cricket

The 2023 Asia Cup is the 16th edition of the men’s Cricket Tournament. The matches are played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) – 50 overs per innings – with Pakistan as the official host. It is the first Asia Cup to be held in multiple countries: with four matches to be played in Pakistan and the remaining nine matches to be played in Sri Lanka between 30 August and 17 September 2023. In the total of 13 matches, six are league matches, six are super-four matches and then the one final.

The tournament is being contested by 6 teams, with Sri Lanka entering the field as the defending champions.

This Sunday, in the Super-Four stage match, India walloped Pakistan winning by 228 runs in the highest ever margin, in terms of runs, between the countries. India made 356/2 in 50 overs and Pakistan 128 in 32 overs. Virat Kholi and KL Rahul scored unbeaten centuries, creating pre-Diwali fireworks in the Premadasa Stadium.

Pakistan had won the toss and decided to bowl, but the Indian fire was something they could not handle.

More infectious stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay updated and calm with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-36

About: the world this week, 3 September to 9 September 2023; Invasion; The G20 in India; Sanatana Dharma; Barbie; and the Rolling Stones.

Everywhere

Invasion

In what is easily one of the worst attacks in months, in the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian missiles struck a market in a Town in eastern Ukraine killing 17 people.

The attack on Kostiantynivka, in the region of Donetsk left about 32 others wounded. Kostiantynivka is close to the front lines around the city of Bakhmut and most often loaded with military personnel.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive enters its fourth month and the war, started by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, is only getting bloodier. The United Nations has said that more than 9500 civilians have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.

G20 in India

The Group of Twenty Nations-G20-2023 Summit, is being held in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September 2023. It is the first such summit to be held in India as well as in South Asia. It will be chaired by India’s Prime Minister under the current G20 Presidency of India, as well as it being the hosting country.

World Leaders, from across the globe will arrive to discuss: Green Development, climate finance & LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment); accelerated, inclusive and resilient growth; accelerated progress on sustainable development goals (SDG), technological transformation and digital public infrastructure; women-led development; and multilateral institutions of the 21st Century.

Significant outcomes are expected after multi-level meetings and discussions.

Key participating countries are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, China, Japan, Italy, Australia, European Union.

New Delhi is being spruced-up and ‘culturally decorated’ to receive participants, and serve them the ‘taste of India’.

In a first, the invitations for the G20 were sent out in the name of the ‘President of Bharat’, which created a frenzy ‘country name change’ speculation in the media. In the Constitution of India, Bharat is an alternate name and was always used when the Government communicated in Hindi.

Sanatana Dharma

This week the buzzword in India – on almost everybody’s tongues – was the word ‘Sanatana Dharma’. Everyday someone was offering a definition and social media was flooded with tons of them.

‘Sanatana Dharma’ is the name by which, what is now known as the religion of Hinduism was known before words such as ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ even came into being. There was no need for any other name, as over 3000 years ago, as it was ‘the way of life’ and perhaps the only religion around-after religion as we know it today, was defined. Sanatana Dharma encompasses a wide range of beliefs, practices, and traditions that have evolved over thousands of years.

Sanatana Dharma means ‘eternal or absolute duty’ and is transcendental and universal. It is the absolute set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all human beings, regardless of class, caste, or sect. In general, Sanatana Dharma consists of virtues such as honesty, not harming living-beings, purity of thought and action, goodwill, mercy, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism. Sanatana Dharma is the same for everyone.

While Sanatana Dharma is the ‘ideal and absolute’ duty – call it spiritual – of a person, there are other duties that one needs to engage in, to sustain himself in life according to his inherent characteristics – call it material- which is bundled under what is called Varnashrama Dharma or ‘One’s Own Duty’.

Varanasharma Dharma depends upon the intrinsic nature (svabhava)-social classifications-and the situation or stage in life (svadharma) of a person.

These two Dharmas – Sanatana and Varnashrama – are not be confused with one another: one is universal and eternal; while the other is ‘personal and internal’.

As one goes through life, the potential for conflict between the two types of Dharma will occur and how to go about it in any particular situation is beautifully explained in the Bhagavad Gita. E.g., between the duties of a skilled warrior fighting a war to establish good over evil and the general injunction to practice not-harming or non-injury on the battlefield, one’s own duty must prevail.

Now, what’s this thing about one’s nature, caste, class, and the kind?

One’s personality manifests in the outside world of the living, depending upon the domination of one or more combinations of three basic types of intrinsic qualities in all of us, called ‘gunas’: The Good – called Sattvik (Sattva); The Passionate – called Rajasik (Rajas), and the Dull- called Tamasik (Tamas). No person ‘exclusively possesses’ any one of these gunas and they are present in each one of us in various degrees.

The Sattvik are the highly evolved: scholarly, intellectual, pure, honest, wise, engaged in continuous study and learning, pursing knowledge and truth, maintaining equanimity at all times, and being noble in their dealings. They recognise different living beings as expressions and manifestation of the one and the same truth – oneness of the World. A Sattvik person serves the world in a sense of self-fulfilment and inspired joy.

The Rajas are the restless, wanting to conquer the world with their physical and mental powers, valour, ambition, and desire for material success and ownership. They recognise plurality of the world by reason of separateness. They are constantly undertaking tasks of heavy toil involving great strain and face the consequent physical fatigue and mental exhaustion of their activities.

The Tamasik are the dull, unreasonable, lazy, and prone to inactivity. They consider the world as existing for their pleasure alone, failing to recognise anything existing beyond their ego. They are self-centred, generally fanatical in their path and devotion, and in their views and values in life. They hardly enquire, question, or try to discover the cause of things and happenings. They have no regard for the consequences of their actions. They surrender their dignity, capacity, and subtle facilities all for the sake of pursuit of a delusory goal in life, and instant gratification.

Based on the inner mental make-up of a person – not always determined by heredity or accident of birth -it became a practice to classify and prescribe different duties or tasks for each person, in ancient times. Again, not based on the texture of a person’s skin, the colour of his hair.

The predominantly Sattva, with a little Rajas and minimum Tamas, were called Brahmanas-the spiritual and learned, the Priests, the Gurus; the predominately Rajas, with some Sattva and a dash of Tamas, were called the Kshatriyas – the Kings, Rulers, and Warriors; the predominately Rajas with less of Sattva and some Tamas, were called the Vaishyas – the businessmen, merchants, craftsmen, landowners; the predominantly Tamas, with a little of Rajas and only traces of Sattva were called the Sudras – the common unskilled workers, servants, peasants.

In medieval times we did not have medical, engineering, law or other degrees and this classification was an intelligent means of choosing people for gainful employment. The four classifications or castes were never intended to be ‘walled structures’, but a means of putting a person to work based on his inclinations and attitudes to draw out the best in them.

Unfortunately, down the ages, the classifications lost much of their meaning and have come to signify a heredity birth-right in society, a mere physical distinction that divided society into castes and sub-castes. And people built walls around their caste groupings, as superior, inferior; and later another outside the caste system called ‘untouchables’ crept in, which was never meant to be. For. e.g., a true Brahmana is necessarily a highly cultured Sattvik person with almost perfect mastery of his mind and control of his senses. And can raise himself to the highest levels of self-control by meditation and other ‘rightful’ means. One cannot be a Brahmana or obtain the qualities by birth alone, without striving and deserving.

Dharma is often translated as ‘duty, religion or religious duty’ and yet its meaning is more profound, defying concise English translation. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit root ‘dhri,’ which means ‘to sustain.’ Another related meaning is ‘that which is integral to something. For e.g., for the sake of illustration, the dharma of sugar is to be sweet and the dharma of fire to be hot. Therefore, a person’s dharma consists of duties that sustain him, according to his innate characteristics. Such characteristics are both material and spiritual, generating two corresponding types of dharma, as elaborated in the preceding paragraphs.

Sanatana Dharma came to be called Hinduism when the Greeks who invaded northwestern India under Alexander The Great designated the people living on the banks for the River Indus (River Sindhu in Sanskrit) as ‘Indoos’ or ‘Hindus’.

Going further, and nearer home to the present times, the Supreme Court of India said the following about the Hindu Religion:

“Unlike other religions in the World, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does not worship any one God, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not satisfy the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more”.

Hinduism does not have a founder. It is a fusion of various traditions. To put it in another way, it is like ‘free’ Linux software – say, with Sanatana Dharma at the core – around which ‘other systems’ are developed and built, each one freely choosing a path accordingly to his nature. This unlike, say ‘licensed’ Microsoft software, which is strictly walled and controlled. Sanatana Dharma, that is Hinduism, predates the word ‘secular’ and in many ways is all-embracing, all-accepting, and truly modern.

Hinduism is believed to be one of the World’s oldest religions with scriptural texts dating back to over 3000 years: the Vedas is one of them. Also in contention is Zoroastrianism, founded in Persia (now Iran), and Judaism – the foundation of all other Abrahamic religions and the oldest monotheistic religion (rising from Moses’ Ten Commandments). Next we have Jainism, which originated in India; Confucianism with roots in China and believed to be in existence for over 2500 years; then we have Buddhism, again originating in India, about 2500 years ago.

Polytheism, although not one specific religion is perhaps the oldest form of practiced religion often occurring in pagan practices that aimed to worship a plethora of Gods. The earliest forms were seen in Egyptian myths and recorded on Sumerian tablets. Example are the multiple Gods of Ancient Egypt, Greece and of the Roman Empire.

For religion to emerge, be used, and spread they should be a human civilization, right?

Most scholars place the earliest cradles of civilization in modern-day Iraq (Mesopotamia), Egypt, India (Indus Valley), China, Peru, and Mexico, beginning between approximately 4000 and 3000 BC. These ancient complex societies formed cultural and technological advances, several of which are still present today. A great many of the details of modern life, have origins that go back for thousands of years to the ancient cultures in their respective regions.

With this background, if a responsible person holding political office in India, says Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated like we do mosquitoes, dengue, and the kind, he must definitely be out of his mind. And very uneducated, un-evolved, and wholly drowned in Tamas.

Barbie

The movie Barbie, which released world wide in July 2023 has officially become the year’s biggest box office hit, after the doll’s big-screen earnings overtook the Super Mario Bros. Movie movie’s total.

Barbie has now made over USD 1.38 billion (bn) globally, which has taken it past the USD 1.36bn earnings by the ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’. Barbie has also helped the United States summer box office reach the USD 4bn mark for the first time since the pandemic.

The ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ is an American computer-animated adventure comedy film based on Nintendo’s Mario video game franchise. It is produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and written by Matthew Fogel. The film is about brothers Mario and Luigi, Italian-American plumbers who are transported to an alternate world and become entangled in a battle between two fantasy Kingdoms.

Rolling Stones

This week, the Rolling Stones announced their first album of original music is 18 years, called ‘Hackney Diamonds’. The band, who formed more than six decades ago said it ‘heralded a new album, new music, new era’. The album will be the first since the death of the band’s drummer Charlie Watts in August 2021.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood – the surviving core of the band – announced the new Album with clips of a new song, ‘Angry’ this Wednesday at an event in Hackney, London. Hackney Diamonds will feature 12 tracks and be released on 20 October 2023, preceded by the lead single, Angry.

The new album will feature Steve Jordan in Watts’ place, a drummer the band knew from ‘way back’ and who filled Watts’ place on tour. Said Sir Mick Jagger, “Of the album’s 12 tracks, most are with Steve, but two are tracks we recorded in 2019 with Charlie”.

American Actress Sydney Sweeney famous for the TV series ‘The White Lotus’ and ‘Euphoria’, features in the up-beat music video for the song.

Over the week, I listened to the song and saw the music video with Sydney Sweeney sprawled all over in an extremely edgy leather crop top busier, paired with sexy star cutout pants. She rides in the back of a red Mercedes-Benz convertible on Sunset Boulevard, writhing and playing air-guitar on the hood of the car. It’s an absolute blast – I had my tongue hanging out for more! The Stones are definitely on a roll.

More rolling stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Dance with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-35

About: the world this week, 27 August to 2 September 2023; fighting, shooting, banning, kissing, worming, releasing, probing and exploring, running, and throwing.

Everywhere

Ukraine Fights

Ukrainian and Russian drones are overrunning the battlefield these days as both countries are increasingly relying on the unmanned aerial Drones to wage a modern war. At any given time, dozens of Ukrainian and Russian drones are patrolling the skies above Vuhledar in the East, near ongoing fighting in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Drones fly criss-crossing flight paths, causing air-traffic jams, and occasional collisions.

A Drone Operator remarked, ‘it’s like a crossroads in India’.

America Shoots

The shooting, on ordinary people, continues with regular frenzy in this part of the World, with no end in sight. And the United States (US) has already seen more than 400 mass shootings this year. They love their guns like hell?

Last weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, a White gunman opened fire at a Dollar General Store, killing three Black people. Later, the gunman shot himself to death. The 21 years old shooter was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a Glock handgun that he bought legally. One of the guns was painted with swastikas. And the shooter made racist statements before opening fire. He had first tried to get into Edward Waters University, a small HBCU (Historically Black College or University) in the city, but was asked to leave by on-campus security.

Jacksonville is a city where 30% of its residents are Black.

Later, it was revealed that the shooter wrote several manifestos filled with ideology of hate. The US Justice Department is investigating the attack as a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.

France Bans

France’s Education Minister has announced a ban on abaya -a loose-fitting, full length dress worn by some Muslim women – in France’s state-run schools, describing the garment as ‘a religious gesture’. France has long banned all religious signs at educational institutions, but abaya had skirted the law until now. Students studying in public schools will no longer be allowed to wear the abaya.

Typically, the abaya is a black garment constructed like a loose robe or kaftan and covers everything but the face, hands, and feet. It’s not to be confused with a burqa or hijab-other Islamic forms of dress for women. The burqa is a garment that covers the entire face, with a crocheted mesh grill over the eyes. The hijab, on the other hand, is a head-scarf. Styles vary not only by geography, but also fashion trends.

The move is in keeping with a long line of steps that France has been taking against what it says is as an ‘affront to secularism’.

Spain Kisses

In nearby Spain a controversial ‘Football Kiss’ engulfed the country and refuses to die down.

Leading officials within the Spanish Football Federation called on suspended President Luis Rubiales to resign on account of his behaviour at the Women’s World Cup, including forcibly kissing Spain’s Women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso, 33, on the lips, sparking worldwide outrage.

Rubiales, 46, has been defiant regarding the kiss. At a meeting of the federation, last week, where he had been widely expected to resign, Rubiales instead refused to step down, calling the kiss “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric, and consensual”. Rubiales also said he made a mistake, but that the kiss was consensual. Hermoso, on her part, said she did not give her permission and felt violated.

Meanwhile, the mother of Rubiales went on a hunger strike at a church in southern Spain, in support of her son, saying she would fast night and day until, what she called, the ‘inhumane hounding’ of her son ends. She had stayed back in the church after a service to start the hunger-strike. Later, she was admitted to a hospital.

Pakistan Releases

This week, Pakistan’s Islamabad High Court suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s conviction and three-year sentence in the Toshakhana Corruption case, ordering his release.

Imran Khan was accused of unlawfully selling State gifts acquired by him and his family during his tenure as Prime Minister between 2018 and 2022. He was barred from politics for five years, preventing him from contesting an upcoming Election.

However, legal wrinkles are to be ironed out, before Imran Khan actually leaves jail.

India Probes the Moon and Winks at the Sun

Last week India’s Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conquered the South Pole of the Moon with the Chandrayaan-3 Mission successfully landing Vikram on the Moon. And it in turn rolled out the six-wheeled robot Pragyan (meaning wisdom) to size-up the Moon.

This week, Pragyan went about moon-probing and sent back temperature details of the Moon’s surface besides beaming photos of a handsome Vikram. And found a host of chemicals on lunar soil. In-situ instruments confirmed the presence of sulphur and preliminary analysis also unveiled the presence of aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, and oxygen.

ISRO also received the first set of data about the temperatures on the lunar topsoil and up to the depth of 10 centimetres below the surface, from a probe onboard Vikram. While the temperature on the Moon’s surface was nearly 60 Degrees Centigrade (C), it plummeted sharply below the surface, dropping to (-) 10C at 80 millimetres below the ground.

The Moon, however, is known for harbouring extreme temperatures: daytime temperatures near the lunar equator reach a boiling of 120C, while night temperatures can see-saw and plunge to (-) 130C.

The Moon’s Poles are even colder- one crater near the North Pole recorded (-) 250C, which makes it the coldest temperature measured anywhere in the entire solar system. Equally cold temperatures have been recorded at some of the craters, which remain permanently in the shadows in the South Pole.

Having found something to chew-upon on the awfully cold Moon, India is heading towards absolutely hotter parts – the Sun to find what’s cooking over there. ISROs first space mission to study the Sun – Aditya L1 – is scheduled to be launched this Saturday. Aditya means ‘Sun’ in Sanskrit and…and that’s as close to Sun as one can get!

Aditya L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around what is called the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million kilometres (km) from the Earth. It will take Aditya about 4 months, from the time of launching, to reach the designated orbit. The beauty of this spot is that a satellite placed in this orbit will have an unobstructed, continuous view of the Sun at all times – never mind the eclipses.

Aditya carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors. Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

Aditya L1 is expected to work for about 5 years, sending back ‘hot’ information to ‘cool’ the World.

Brain Worms

This is probably the first known discovery – an astonishing one – of a live worm inside a human brain: neurosurgeons in Canberra Hospital, Australia extracted a 8 centimetres (cm) long parasite roundworm – which was not only alive but wriggling – from the brain of a 64 years old Australian woman.

The incident came to light in 2022 and the extraordinary medical case was published in the latest edition of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The symptoms first appeared in January 2021 when the women developed abdominal pain and diarrhoea followed by fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and night sweats. As they worsened over a period of three weeks she was admitted to her local hospital in southeast New South Wales. Respiratory samples were examined and lung biopsy was carried out, but no parasites were detected at that stage.

By 2022 the woman was experiencing forgetfulness and worsening depression prompting an MRI scan, which showed brain changes and a lesion in her brain. When the neurosurgeon investigated deeply, they were shocked to find the worm.

Doctors believe that after hatching within her body the larva must have made its way to the brain. A brain biopsy was expected to reveal a cancer or an abscess. But a big lump appeared in the frontal part of the brain from where the worm was picked up.

The woman is relieved and glad that the Doctors found out the cause of her problems. She is on the road to recovery.

The creature is the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously know to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris Robertsi. The worms are commonly found in Carpet Pythons, living their oesophagus and stomach.

The worms eggs are shed in snake droppings, which are eaten by small mammals. The life cycle continues as other snakes eat the mammals. The woman lived near a carpet python habitat and foraged for native vegetation called Warrigal Greens – a type of grass- to cook. While she had no direct contact with snakes it is hypothesised that she consumed the eggs from the vegetation or contaminated hands.

Clever Washing – that we all religiously learnt and diligently executed during the Covid19 pandemic -may still work at all times?

India Strikes

The 19th World Athletics Championships was held in Hungary’s Budapest between 19 and 27 August 23 – a first in Hungary- and India having conquered the South Pole of the Moon woke up to conquer or ‘land safely’ in three other domains. Indeed, a glittering week for India in the Milky-Way Galaxy.

First, the Indian men’s 4×400 metres(m) relay team achieved a historic milestone by qualifying for the final for the first time ever. The team’s remarkable performance also resulted in setting a new Asian record with a time of 2:59.05 seconds during the semi-final heats, finished second.

Though ultimately the team finished 5th in the Finals clocking a time of 2:59.92, they created a huge, running sensation in India. The United States continued their dominance as they finished first with a time of 2:57.31, and the French set a new national record by clocking a time of 2:58.45. Great Britain won the bronze with a time of 2:58.71, their season’s best.

The Indian men’s relay team consisted of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, and Rajesh Ramesh. They finished narrowly behind the heavyweights of world athletics and have become new heroes in India.

Second, India’s Parul Chaudhary was running another race. She finished 11th in the women’s 3000 m steeplechase final, but ran the race of her life to set a new National Record and also go past the entry standard for the upcoming Olympics.

She is the first Indian runner to clock 9:15.31 in the women’s 3000m steeplechase event. She broke Lalita Babar’s mark of 9:19.76 set during the 2016 Rio Olympics, while also finishing comfortably under 9:23.00, the automatic qualification mark for next year’s Summer Olympic Games to be held in Paris, France. In July 2023, she won a Gold in women’s 3000m steeplechase in the Asian Athletics Championships held at Bangkok.

Third, now to the Gold part. India’s reigning Olympic Champion and World Champion, Neeraj Chopra won Gold in javelin, with a throw of 88.17m becoming the first Indian to win Gold in the World Athletic Championship.

Recall that Neeraj Chopra won the Gold Medal in the 2020 (held in 2021) Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.58m becoming the first Indian Olympian to win a gold medal in athletics.

Later in the week Chopra missed being crowned the Diamond League Champion as well, coming second by the narrowest of margins of 0.15m. He finished being Czech Republic’s Akub Vadlejch (85.86m) who had won a bronze in the World Championships. Previously, Chopra had won the Diamond League Meetings in Doha – 5th May and Lausanne – 30 June.

Neeraj Chopra works as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army. He was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award- the Padma Sri – in 2022. He is fast evolving into the best sportsperson India ever had, setting an example on and off the field – going by reports of the way he carries himself.

More stories worming-up in the weeks ahead. Kiss your loved ones and stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-34

About: the world this week, 20 August to 26 August 2023; India’s Mission Possible – first country to land an unmanned space-craft at the South Pole of the Moon and explore…and other stories.

Everywhere

Mission Possible

It was an unbelievable historic moment for India on 23 August 2023, at 6.04 pm, when its unmanned Spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 achieved the most import mission objective of flawlessly landing on the dark, South Pole of the Moon – and lighting it up. No country in the world has been able to do this up to now, and India becomes the first country to explore this ‘small-pox’ like ridden surface of the Moon.

India joined the United States, Russia, and China in being able to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. And do the Rover ‘moon-walk’.

Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023 from the Indian Space Research Centre’s (ISRO) launch facility at the island of Sriharikota, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh State. It was set on course to the Moon with a Propulsion Module carrying the Moon-Lander Vikram, with the Moon-Rover Pragyan, inside Vikram’s belly.

After revolving around the Earth in gradually increasing orbit raising manoeuvres Chandrayaan crawled out of Earth’s gravity and without-hitch made the trans-lunar journey to the Moon’s orbit, on 1st August. Then following a series of orbit adjustments and in a reverse of what it did around the Earth, it gradually circled itself close to the Moon to ‘fall within its gravity’. Then Vikram separated from the Propulsion Module on 17 August, and in a series of de-boosting manoeuvres it was brought to the desired low orbit from which it could ‘strike the Moon’.

Last week, when Chandrayaan-3 was about 103 km away from the Moon, it established contact with the previous Mission’s Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter, which incidentally is still around and apparently ‘rich in knowledge of the neighbourhood’. And gathered all possible ‘tricks of the trade’ to ensure success of the Mission.

The speed of Vikram was reduced in calculated steps following a well-planned trajectory, combining horizontal and vertical velocities controlled by the ISRO Mission Centre in Bengaluru, India. Once Vikram was positioned at the designated landing point at an altitude of about 30km, at 5.44 pm on 23rd August, the Automatic Landing Sequence (ALS) was initiated. Prior to this step and a few hours ago, all required commands were uploaded to Vikram from ISRO’s Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) facility.

The ALS is a critical part of the Mission and takes control of Vikram, when it is without Mission Control support, relying entirely on its own sensors and instruments with the onboard computer to make the final calculations for a soft landing. Upon receiving the ALS command, Vikram activated its throttleable engines for a powered descent, with the ISRO team closely monitoring on ground Earth.

Vikram then entered what is called ‘the powered braking phase’. This involves using its four thruster engines by ‘retro firing’ them to gradually reduce its speed, preventing a crash due to the Moon’s gravity. At an altitude of around 6.8 km Vikram shut down two of its engines to provide reverse thrust as it descended further. When it reached an altitude of about 150-100 meters, it employed its sensors and cameras to scan the lunar surface for obstacles to cleverly initiate the landing.

The process saw the Vikram initially reduce its horizontal velocity, re-orient itself for a horizontal position to a vertical one for vertical landing, and then reduce its vertical velocity to land at a safe speed. In a span of 19 minutes, the craft slowed itself from an initial velocity of 1.6 kilometres per second to 1 to 2 metres per second. And then, it just touched-down softly.

After landing and allowing the moon dust to settle- to prevent fogging of Vikram’s cameras-and after taking its first ‘Moon breaths’ in the thin air of the Moon, Vikram got to work. The lunar gravity being barely one-sixth of Earth’s gravity, it took a while for the dust to settle.

Vikram then opened-up: a two-segment ramp was rolled down for the Rover – which is inside Vikram – to roll-out, after which the Rover’s solar panel was quickly deployed to harness the sun’s power for the strength of walk. And then the six-wheeled Pragyan walked down the ramp and onto the surface of the Moon leaving India’s indelible imprint on the moon, as its wheels carry the Indian State Emblem and the logo of ISRO.

Everything happened exactly to plan as a nation of 1.4 billion watched, with tears of joy in the eye.

Vikram and Pragyan are expected to have a mission life of approximately one lunar day, which is about 14 Earth days, to conduct studies of the lunar environment. However, ISRO hopes to extend the mission duration by another lunar day.

This is a great accomplishment by India’s ISRO – a job very well done. There was widespread jubilation and celebrations, across the country, on this incredible unforgettable achievement. Tons of hard work surely makes things appear light and easy!

Meanwhile, Russia’s unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon on 20th August after Russia’s Space Corporation, Roscosmos, lost contact with the spacecraft. Roscosmos said it had ‘ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon’. The craft was due to be the first ever to land on the Moon’s South Pole, but failed after encountering problems as it moved into its pre-landing orbit. It’s a communications failure and I’m sure Russia would find the reasons, which would be useful for future ‘Moon-Slayers’.

This is Russia’s first Moon mission in almost 50 years. The previous attempt was successful when its Luna-24 softly landed on the Moon on 18 August 1976. Once on the Moon Luna-24 collected a soil sample by using its robotic arm to dill about 2 metres in the nearby soil and stowing it away in a small return capsule. After spending nearly a day on the Moon, Luna 24 lifted off the next day entered Earth’s atmosphere and parachuted safely to land on 22 August 1976, about 200 km southeast of Surgut in Western Siberia.

The Russia-Ukraine War, and ‘Unforgiven’

Ukraine’s counter-offensive taking the battle into the heart of Russia, saw drones attack a skyscraper in Moscow. Before this drone attack another suspected attack on 18th August caused damage to an exhibition hall at Moscow’s Expo Centre, next to the city’s main skyscraper district. There have been over 150 suspected aerial drone attacks this year in Russia and in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

In another news the head of the Wagner Mercenary Group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin who briefly challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin by ‘marching his troops towards Moscow and ‘suddenly giving-up’ was killed – presumed dead – in an Air-crash along with 10 others. Unverified reports say that his private plane – an Embraer-135 – was flying from Moscow to S tPetersburg and was shot down by Russian air defences.

Prigozhin led an aborted mutiny against Russia’s armed forces in June this year and seemed to be ‘forgiven’, until this end.

Women’s Football: Maiden Win

Like I said the previous week, the Queen of Spain’s presence perhaps worked like magic and Spain beat England 1-0 to lift the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 for the first time. Spain become only the second country in the history of football -along with Germany – to win the Men’s and Women’s FIFA World Cups.

Spain’s Queen Letizia and her younger daughter, Princess Sofia, traveled to Sydney, Australia, for the World Cup finals on Sunday. And then took part in the celebrations on the field after Spain defeated England.

Spain’s skipper and defender-in-Chief, Olga Carmona opened the scoring-and the winning goal- in the 28th minute of the 1st half, shooting across England’s goalkeeper, Mary Earps. Later Spain’s star midfielder Jennifer Hermoso got an opportunity to make it 2-0, when Keira Walsh’s hand-ball was penalised with a spot-kick, but England’s goal-keeper saved the penalty.

There was a controversy about the trueness of ‘saving the goal’ but FIFA quickly resolved the issue, following a Video Assistant Referee check and another by the referee on the monitor. The Rules say, ‘The defending goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts until the ball is kicked. When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line.’ After due diligence, FIFA determined that Mary Earps’ feet was on the line when the kick was taken.

Japanese player Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot scoring five goals through the tournament. Spanish player Aitana Bonmati was voted the tournament’s best player, winning the Golden Ball, whilst Salma Paralluelo was awarded the Young Player Award. England goalkeeper Mary Earps won the Golden Glove, awarded to the best performing goalkeeper of the tournament.

The closing moments of the Work Cup saw the kicking up of another controversy. During the presentation ceremony, Spanish football Chief Luis Rubiales, 46, gave Spanish midfielder Jennifer Hermoso an unsolicited kiss on the lips. Earlier, in the stands he was seen celebrating victory by grabbing his genitals.

Rubiales has since agreed to quit, after initially refusing, on being roundly condemned by the football world for his actions following the World Cup final.

Indian Chess

While Chandrayaan-3 was making its moves to kiss the Moon, and ‘Pragyan’ to start strolling on the Moon, another Indian – an original child prodigy- an 18 year old going by the name of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was making his own calculations to land the FIDE (International Chess Federation) World Chess Championship Title.

He became only the second Indian and the the youngest player ever to enter the World Chess Final to face World No 1 Norwegian, Magnus Carlsen after defeating the World No 2 and World No 3, all in the same event.

Praggnanandhaa had stunned World No 3, Fabiano Caruana on Monday in the tie-break in the semifinals. He became the third youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament.

However this landing on the chess board was not soft and after two-drawn matches Praggnanandhaa lost to Magnus Carlsen in the first tie-breaker.

India is on the move. Tomorrow is another day!

More mission possible stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Invest in India, think Chess and stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-33

About: the world this week, 13 August to 19 August 2023; a charged Trump; the Taliban; rain fury in India; caste problems; Inflation; Moon mission; brainwave music; Women’s Football, and Men’s Hockey.

Everywhere

United States

Former United States (US) President Donald Trump ‘refuses to quit’- the headlines, for the wrong reasons. He and 18 others were indicted in the State of Georgia for trying to overturn the Presidential Election Results in 2020, which culminated in his supporters storming the US Capitol Hill in January 2020. This week, the jury laid out a 41-count indictment against Trump and others.

Trump was charged with 13 counts, including violating Georgia’s RICO Act, (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations) soliciting a public officer, and conspiring to file false documents. Some of the others indicted include former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former White House lawyer John Eastman.

The RICO Act enables prosecutors to target people in positions of authority within a criminal organisation, not just lower-level people doing the dirty work. But its use was never meant to be limited exclusively to organised ‘Gangster’ crime.

On expected lines, Team Trump called the prosecutors in the case ‘rabid partisan’ and called the indictment ‘bogus.’ It’s the fourth time he’s been criminally charged in four months. Trump has maintained that the other indictments are politically motivated.

Educating The Taliban

It’s close to 700 days since the Taliban banned teenage girls and women from schools and they continue to be denied the right to an education in Afghanistan. Now, in another onslaught on women, a Taliban Official said this week, “Women ‘lose value’ if men glimpse their faces in public”. Hence the necessity for them to cover-up!

India’s Rain Fury

Intense rain and cloudbursts wreaked havoc in India’s northern State of Himachal Pradesh for the second time since July, resulting in multiple landslides that claimed more than 50 lives across the hill state.

The devastation in the Hill Station of Shimla was Biblical with buildings collapsing like the proverbial ‘house of cards’ washed away by the avalanche-like gush of water down the hill sides.

The situation was grim in the neighbouring State of Uttarakhand too, as a continuous spell of torrential rain caused three deaths and left five people missing. The fatalities have pushed the state’s rain-related death toll this monsoon to over 63, with many unaccounted for.

The extreme rain spells came during a break in the monsoon over India, when the monsoon trough runs close to the Western Himalayas, making the hill states vulnerable to heavy showers.

India’s Inflation

India’s retail inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which was relaxing around 4.81% in June for quite a while, surged to a 15-month high of 7.44% in July. Vegetable prices, notably tomatoes, and other food items are major contributors to the spike. This marks the highest figure since April 2022, when inflation was at 7.79%.

The two indices that are used to measure inflation in India are the CPI and the WPI (Wholesale Price Index). These two measure inflation on a monthly basis taking into account different approaches to calculate the change in prices of goods and services. The study helps the Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to understand the price change in the market and thus keep an eye on inflation.

The CPI analyses the retail inflation of goods and services in the economy across 260 commodities. The CPI-based retail inflation considers the change in prices at which the consumers buy goods. The data is collected separately by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation and the Ministry of Labour.

The WPI analyses the inflation of only goods across 697 commodities. The WPI-based wholesale inflation considers the change in prices at which consumers buy goods at a wholesale price or in bulk from the Manufacturer/Producer’s Factory, Mandis, etc.

India’s CPI rose, the WPI continues to remain in the negative territory for four straight months and was (-)1.36% in July 2023.

Tamil Nadu’s Caste Problems

In a shocking, brutal incident, a 17 years old student, Chinnadurai and his 14 years old sister Chandraselvi, studying in a Government-aided School, were attacked with sickles by six of his classmates at his house in Nanguneri, in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli District, late last week.

Chinnadurai is a Class 12 student of the School in Valliyur on the National Highway, near Nanguneri and belongs to a lower caste. His attackers-classmates from his own school- belonged to dominant upper castes. When the attackers barged into their house, Chandraselvi who had come to Chinnadurai’s rescue was also hacked. The neighbours gathered on hearing the commotion, the students fled the scene.

The brother suffered about fifteen cuts on his body while the sister had about five cuts, primarily on her hands. Both were treated at the Nanguneri Government Hospital and later at the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. And are out of danger.

A 60 years old relative of the victims, who was among those holding a protest demanding police action against the suspects, fainted and died.

Chinnadurai was subjected to casteist harassment and bullied at school by students of Class 11 and Class 12 who forced him to run errands for them such as buying cigarettes and snacks. Unable to bear the harassment the boy complained to his parents-who are daily wage labourers-and stopped going to School.

Chinnadurai’s mother had taken him to school to complain, whereupon the students involved were called by the Headmaster and let off with a stiff warning. This seems of have angered the boys who confronted Chinnadurai on his way home and threatened him with severe consequences if he complained. And on the same night, the students gathered and entered Chinnadurai’s house and attacked him.

Tirunelveli has been infamous for caste clashes in schools in the past too and the Government had taken measures such as banning the use of coloured wristbands and other symbols that identify caste in schools. Like wristbands, students would sport tilaks and bindis in different colours – for instance, red and green for Dalits, yellow and red for Thevars. Such wristbands and also colourful T-shirts and trousers are banned in Schools in the region.

Moon Mission

India’s Chandrayaan-3 is flying like a butterfly and is getting closer to the Moon and this week it successfully completed all Moon-bound manoeuvres. The next step of the separation of the Lunar Landing Module-Vikram-from the Propulsion Module happened on 17 Aug 23. And subsequently, the de-boosting operations to slow down the spacecraft was also completed. Vikram is now as close as about 113 km away from the Moon, looking for a spot… to land.

And it’s over to the soft-kiss touch-down landing on the Moon…and of course the strolling when Vikram ‘opens up’ to reveal the Rover – Pragyan – tucked inside.

Land like a Butterfly! Sting the Moon like a Bee!

Music From Another Brick In The Wall

Scientists have reconstructed Pink Floyd’s iconic song, ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ by eavesdropping on people’s brainwaves- the first time a recognisable song has been decoded from recordings of electrical brain activity.

Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, published a study explaining how they reconstructed ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ by decoding electrical brain activity. Scientists placed electrodes on 29 epilepsy patients’ brain surfaces as they listened to three minutes of the song. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer models used the brain-activity patterns in each patient’s brain to help recreate the song’s lyrics, rhythm, and melody. The scientists said they decided to use music instead of voice because ‘music is universal’. Now, the success of the study could be used to help paralysed patients with neurological conditions.

Researchers found an increased reaction in part of the temporal lobe (which processes sound and memory) when playing certain notes. The scientists hope the study could help answer why some patients who struggle with speech can sing but not speak. They also believe the research could help develop devices that can do more than just rely on speech-but can instead interpret sounds and emotions as well.

The breakthrough could help tens of thousands of people who have difficulty with speech including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients and those with non-verbal apraxia.

ALS is a form of motor neuron disease, where the muscles are left ‘without nourishment’ and thereby loss of signals that nerve cells normally send to muscle cells.

The hope is that doing so could ultimately help to restore the musicality of natural speech in patients who struggle to communicate because of disabling neurological conditions such as stroke or ALS – the neurodegenerative disease that famous Scientist Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with.

Women’s Football

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is on its last legs in the joint-hosting countries of Australia and New Zealand.

Joining Spain and Sweden – last week’s Semi Finalists – were England and Australia. England beat Colombia 2-1 in regular time, and Australia beat France 7-6 on penalties, to get to the last Four. This is Australia’s first ever entry into the Semi-Finals.

In the first semi-finals Spain beat Sweden, 2-1, and in the second, England beat Australia, 3-1, to kick into their first ever final. Australia’s Sam Kerr scored a spectacular goal from around the mid-half – easily one of the best in the tournament – to level after the English scored. But Australia fumbled during an English raid, at the goal-post allowing England to slip in a goal.

The Spain versus England Final is set for 20 August 23 at ‘Stadium Australia’- Accor Stadium – Sydney, Australia. Neither have the Spanish ‘La Roja’ or the English ‘Lionesses’ reached this stage previously, and either way it will be truly be a ‘maiden win’.

The key players capable of determining the final outcome are: England’s defender Alex Greenwood, considered one of the best ball-playing centre backs in the World and along with her impeccable passing she can roar in the attacks. She will have to fend off Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso, who has a ran a total of 67.43 km in the Tournament thus far, chasing down every ball and brushing over every blade of grass to help her team win. Then there is the Ona Batlle -Lauren Hemp and Teresa Abelleria – Keria Walsh battles to look forward to.

The other stars are Spain’s Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo, especially the latter. After giving up an athletics career the 19 years old has gone on to establish herself in the Spanish squad. Able to play wide or through the middle, her pace is a nightmare for opposition defenders, plus she has an eye for goals. She has scored three times in Spain’s last two games before the World Cup. Another lioness to look out for is the ‘poised for breakout’ 21 years old English star Lauren James.

England are favourites to win the Cup. The Queen of Spain is expected to watch the Finals, and maybe wave a magic wand?

The race for the Golden Boot, has Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa, at 5 goals, in the lead followed by France’s Kadidiatou Diani, at 4 goals.

Hockey

The Indian men’s hockey team won its fourth Asian Champions Trophy title, cheered on by a capacity crowd in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. They defeated Malaysia 4-3 in the finals. Now the expectations are huge for winning Gold in upcoming The Asian Games – about a month away. With this victory, India becomes the most successful team in the Asian Champions Trophy, ahead of three-time champions and arch rivals, Pakistan.

India was down 1-3, at half-time, but clawed-back into the game to secure a 4-3 win. Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, and Akashdeep Singh scored the goals for India.

Japan beat Korea 5-3 for to finish third, while Pakistan beat China 6-1 to finish fifth.

More sticking stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Play with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-32

About: the world this week 6 August to 12 August 2023; Selling Gifts in Pakistan; Bangladesh’s Dengue Outbreak; Hawaii’s Wild-Fires; Moon Missions; India’s Parliament; Women’s Football; and Steps to Healthy Living.

Everywhere

Pakistan’s Gifts

Former Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan, Imran Khan, 70, was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison, in the ’Toshakhana’ case. And he has been barred from Politics for five years. The case is that Imran Khan misused his office, during his tenure as PM from 2018 to 2022, to buy and sell gifts in the State’s possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees. Protocol requires PM’s to store all gifts in the State’s ‘safe house’, while Khan is accused of having sold them at a profit. The objects include watches, perfumes, diamond jewellery, and dinner sets. Imran Khan said he legally purchased the items.

He now sits in jail -on the bench- waiting for some magic decision by the Higher Courts where he has made a third-umpire kind of appeal. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Parliament has been dissolved and the Elections are pitched ahead at a convenient distance.

Bangladesh’s Dengue Outbreak

Dengue, also called ‘break-bone fever’, is a mosquito-borne viral infection disease that is common in warm, tropical and subtropical regions of the World.

The dengue causing virus (DENV – single strand RNA of the Flaviviridae family) spreads to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species (Aegypti or Albopictus) female mosquito. Almost half of the world’s population live in areas with a risk of dengue and is often a leading cause of illness in these areas. These mosquitoes also spread Zika, Chikungunya, and other viruses.

Mosquitoes become carriers of the disease when they bite a person infected with the virus. Such infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people. Bites from infected mosquitoes are the only mode of transmission. Infected mosquitoes continue to transmit the dengue virus with each blood meal for the rest of their lives.

But then, where did the Dengue Virus first come from?

Scientists hypothesise that the dengue viruses evolved in non-human primates and jumped from these primates to humans in Africa or Southeast Asia between 500 and 1000 years ago. They probably originated in monkeys and spilled over to humans.

Mosquitoes acquire the virus when they feed on a viraemic (virus present in the blood) host, after which the virus infects many tissues, in a susceptible species, including the salivary glands. The incubation period of the dengue virus is 3–14 days, with an average of 4–7 days. Humans are the main amplifying host of the virus. In tropical and sub-tropical urban areas, the viruses are maintained in a seemingly never-ending human-mosquito cycle.

Dengue is endemic in at least 100 countries in Asia. i.e., the infection is constantly present; and the disease occurs regularly in the community.

Mosquitoes typically lay eggs near stagnant water in containers that hold water, like buckets, bowls, animal dishes, flower pots, and vases, which serve as breeding grounds for further spread of mosquitoes bites, and the disease.

Symptoms of dengue include high fever, headache, rash, and muscle and joint pain. In severe cases there is serious bleeding and shock, which can be life-threatening and require hospital care. Treatment includes fluids and pain relievers.

Those who become infected with the virus a second time are significantly at a greater risk of developing a severe disease condition. A person can be infected with dengue multiple times in their life.

There is no treatment for the infection itself, but the symptoms that a patient experiences can be managed. There is no vaccine or drug that specifically treats dengue.

Now, over to Bangladesh where dengue is spreading like wild-fire.

Urbanisation, migration, and climatic changes are spurring a surge in dengue virus infections and Bangladesh is facing the effects. It registered record numbers of dengue cases and deaths amid an accelerating outbreak. The country has reported 61,500 cases of dengue so far in 2023, 85% of which date from July, as well as about 290 deaths. Reports have emerged of health-care facilities being overwhelmed. Moreover, although the risk of dengue is present throughout the year in Bangladesh infections typically peak in August and September.

The El-Nino phenomenon, which is associated with increased temperatures in Southeast Asia, started this year in June 2023. And has been linked to major dengue epidemics. A hot and wet climate is perfect for dengue. Countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand are currently seeing a lot of transmission.

Dengue became established in Bangladesh sometime around the year 2000. Cases have historically been concentrated in the three largest cities: the capital Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna. Infection rates were far lower for people living outside urban areas. However, as Bangladeshis become increasingly mobile, they experienced a greater spread of dengue. People bring the mosquitoes back to their communities as well as the viruses that can be transmitted by the mosquitoes.

Dhaka has been particularly badly hit by the current outbreak. It is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and is rapidly growing. Dengue thrives in conditions of unplanned urbanisation.

Says a Professor in the Department of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, “There is a water supply problem in Dhaka, so people keep water in buckets and plastic containers in their bathrooms or elsewhere in the home. Mosquitoes can live there all year round. Our waste management system is not well planned. Garbage piles up on the street; you see a lot of little plastic containers with pools of water in them. We also have multi-storey buildings with car parks in the basements. People wash their vehicles down there, which is ideal for the mosquitoes”.

Construction sites abound in Dhaka, with plenty of water lying around. Vector control is the responsibility of the city authorities who are doing their best with the spraying and fogging.

The Aedes Aegypti mosquito has now developed resistance to malathion, the insecticide used in Dhaka. The mosquito has already shown resistance to pyrethroid in Bangladesh. The use of mass spraying is not very convincing and there is not much evidence that removing breeding spots and applying insecticide reduces dengue. A mosquito bites during the day, which limits the effectiveness of bed-nets; it is excellent at hiding and needs little more than a thimble-full of standing water to proliferate. Once it is inside a residence, it is extremely difficult to eradicate.

With the evolution of the dengue virus, it does not cause critical symptoms in many instances. Because of this, people often ignore it, but the disease must be diagnosed early so that it can be treated before it gets complicated.

Perhaps the best hope for Bangladesh is a cost-effective vaccine. Presently, clinical trials are underway in a promising single-dose vaccine developed by the US National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) in collaboration with the University of Vermont Vaccine Testing Center (Burlington, VT, USA) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA). Bangladesh has immediate no plans to roll out either the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine – made by French multinational company Sanofi – which is only recommended for individuals previously infected with dengue, or the newer product developed by Takeda – a Japanese Company.

And these mosquitoes have been around for ages!

Hawaii’s Wild-Fires

Hawaii is an island state of the United States (US) – one of the 50 States – about 3200 km from the US mainland, in the Pacific Ocean. It is the only US state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, its laid-back lifestyle, and its delicious food.

The idyllic Hawaii is besieged by unprecedented, apocalyptic wildfires that are raging across Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui. Lahaina, the historic seaside town that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii has been largely reduced to ash. Lahaina being a touristic and economic hub of about 9,000 people, hundreds of families have been displaced. “We have no more Lahaina. It’s gone,” said a resident.

Over 60 people have died and hundreds of structures have been destroyed as fires continue to rage the island. This is the worst natural disaster in the history of Hawaii.

The fires first began this Tuesday, and have since grown and spread in destruction, forcing hundreds of evacuations and leaving thousands without power. Most of the fires on Maui – fuelled in part by violent winds from Hurricane Dora, churning more than 800 miles away – have not yet been contained. New brush fires also erupted on Hawaii Island as officials work to extinguish the ongoing deadly wildfires.

The exact cause of the fires is unknown, although some experts believe human development on the island is at least partly to blame; including non-native grass planted by plantation owners unfamiliar with the native ecosystem, which is dry and prone to fires.

A NASA Satellite imagery showed that dry conditions and strong winds helped fuel destructive wild-fires in Maui.

When a lush Hawaii, caressed by the sea, can turn into a hot-bed furnace, no spot in the World can be considered safe from the effects of Climate Change.

Moon Missions

Last weekend, India’s Chandrayaan-3 was successfully manoeuvred into the lunar orbit. Now the spacecraft is being gradually pulled into the gravity of the Moon with ‘regular, controlled orbit lowering manoeuvres’ by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). A soft landing on the unexplored South Pole of the Moon is scheduled on 23rd August. ISRO is confident that the mission will be a success.

While India is slowly inching to the moon, this week Russia launched it’s first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years. A Soyuz 2.1 rocket carrying the Luna-25 spacecraft blasted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, 5550 km East of Moscow, this Friday. The landed was boosted out of Earth’s orbit towards the Moon over an hour later and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos is now commanding Luna-25. The lander is expected to touch down on the Moon’s South Pole, on 21st August. Russia’s stated goal is to land where no-one else has landed and to find water on the Moon.

India has company out there. And there is a brewing ‘soft competition’ – no country has made a soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon.

India’s Parliament

Perhaps for the first time in a very long time, people were suddenly watching speeches by Members of Parliament (MP) in India’s two Houses of Parliament – the lower, Lok Sabha and the upper, Rajya Sabha.

This season was perhaps one of the noisiest ever and bedlam all the way through. Even a final parting ‘Flying Kiss’ by a ‘recently re-installed MP’ failed to spill love and only generated uproar and more heat. India’s Dairy King, Amul, said it best in a cheeky, delicious advertisement, ‘Frying Kiss. Amul – Wins Everyone’s Confidence’

The Opposition, like a deer caught in the headlights, brought a ‘No Confidence Motion’ on the Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hoping to put the Government on the mat ahead of Parliament Elections in 2024. The focus was on the ethnic violence in the State of Manipur. However, it gave the Government a fabulous opportunity to talk about its achievements and instead wrestle down the Opposition to the mat. Plus, the Government had the numbers in Parliament.

The government easily defeated the no confidence motion after a fiery speech by the PM at the climax of a three-day debate.

The motion was defeated in a voice vote called by the speaker of the Lok Sabha shortly after opposition MPs staged a walk-out.

Women’s Football

Four-time World Cup winners United States of America were knocked-out by Sweden in penalties 5-4 following a goal-less play-time in the knock-out stage.

Colombia are through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-finals, the last Eight, for the first time, beating Jamaica 1-0.

The Quarter final line-up is: Spain versus (vs) Netherlands; Japan vs Sweden, Colombia vs England, and France vs Australia happening on 11th and 12th August.

Spain beat Netherlands 2-1, to advance to the semi-finals as did Sweden likewise beating Japan 2-1.

The race for the Golden Boot, has Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa at 5 Goals, France’s Kadidiatou Diani at 4 goals, and others with three or two goals, on the field.

Steps to Healthy Living

It’s generally believed that walking at least 10,000 steps per day is one of the best ways for maintaining an active lifestyle: enough to extend your life due to ‘good health’. This is in keeping with the fundamental truth of any physical activity: any movement is better than no movement at all.

Now it’s been found that walking just 4,000 steps per day may be enough to help extend your life, according to a new research review published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The researchers found that more movement is better, with each additional 1,000 steps per day associated with a roughly 15% lower risk of premature death. But research suggests that workouts don’t need to be all that gruelling or lengthy to improve your health. Everything from walking to housework to dancing can contribute to well-being, studies have shown.

More burning stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay in-step with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-31

About: the world this week 30 July to 5 August 2023; Ukraine’s drones; Niger’s uranium; Permafrost’s secrets; India’s violence; Women’s football; and Music’s spill.

Everywhere

Ukraine

Ukraine is on the counter-offensive, taking the war into Russia striking deep inside their territory, reaching Moscow and threatening more attacks. A skyscraper in Moscow was attacked by an ‘unidentified’ drone for the second time in two days.

Ukraine says there will be ‘more unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts’. Of course, Russia keeps fumbling with tacit threats of the nuclear option.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia-the new growing-up kid in the world of peacemaking – is trying to get people together for talks in finding a solution to the Russia-Ukraine war, a forum that excludes Russia. The meeting is to be held in Jeddah, with national security advisers and other senior officials from some 40 countries meeting to agree on key principles for a future peace settlement to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Niger

Following last week’s coup in Niger, the military regime of General Abdourahamane Tchiani has banned, with immediate effect, the export of Uranium to France. Over 50% of the uranium extracted from Niger is used for fuelling France’s nuclear power plants. And the about 24% of Uranium imports by the European Union come from Niger.

Niger hosts a French military base and is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium.

Niger has warned of foreign interference and is garnering support for its actions among neighbouring countries.

Back To Life

Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer below the Earth’s surface. It consists of soil, gravel, and sand, usually bound together by ice. Permafrost can be found on land and below the ocean floor in thickness ranging from one meter to more than 1,000 meters. It is found in areas where temperatures rarely rise above freezing. This means permafrost is mostly found in Arctic regions such as Greenland, the US State of Alaska, Russia, China, and Eastern Europe.

Permafrost does not always form in one solid-sheet and there are two major ways in which it forms and distributes itself: continuous and discontinuous. Continuous permafrost is a continuous sheet of frozen material that extends under all surfaces except large bodies of water. Russia’s Serbia has continuous permafrost. Discontinuous permafrost is broken up into separate areas. Some permafrost, in the shadow of a mountain or thick vegetation, stays all year. In other areas the summer sun thaws the permafrost for several weeks or months. The land near the southern shore of Hudson Bay, Canada, has discontinuous permafrost.

What’s all this about?

Scientists have ‘brought to life’ a worm that was frozen 46,000 years ago – at a time when woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers and giant elks roamed the Earth. The roundworm, of a previously unknown species, survived 40 meters below the surface in the Siberian permafrost in a dormant state known as cryptobiosis. Organisms in a cryptobiotic state can endure the complete absence of water or oxygen and withstand high temperatures, as well as freezing or extremely salty conditions. They remain in a state ‘between death and life’, in which their metabolic rates decrease to an undetectable level. Organisms previously revived from this state had survived for decades.

Five years ago, scientists from the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological

Problems in Soil Science in Russia found two roundworm species in the Siberian permafrost. But still, they did not know whether the worm was a known species. Eventually, genetic analysis conducted by scientists in Dresden and Cologne showed that these worms belonged to a novel species, which researchers named Panagrolaimus kolymaenis. Researchers also found that the P. kolymaenis shared with C. elegans — another organism often used in scientific studies — ‘a molecular toolkit’ that could allow it to survive cryptobiosis. Both organisms produce a sugar called trehalose, possibly enabling them to endure freezing and dehydration.

’Toolkit’ is fast becoming the word of the year – freeze it?

Violence in India

This week, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) Constable shot dead 4 people on a moving train – Jaipur Express – near Mumbai. The RPF constable had an altercation with his boss as he was feeling unwell and wanted to get off the train. His boss wanted him to continue up to Mumbai. The Constable then shot his boss first and 3 other people. The incident is being investigated on the lines of mental imbalance, hate crime, besides other angles.

Another story stayed in the news much of this week and ran riot on the headlines. But, first a flash-back to get a handle on the situation.

Nuh is one of the 22 districts in the Indian state of Haryana, previously known as Mewat District, and renamed in the year 2016. The Town of Nuh is the District headquarters and lies on the National Highway – the Gurugram-Sohna-Alwar Highway – about 45 kilometres from the city of Gurugram of the National Capital Region. Mewat is a historical region spanning areas of the States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, hence the name change to a more specific area of Haryana.

Nuh is predominantly populated by the Meos- an ethnic group of the region who are agriculturists – and Muslims; with about 79% being Muslims and about 20% being Hindus.

In the year 2018, the Government of India’s premier policy think-tank, Niti Aayog named Nuh District as the most underdeveloped of India’s 739 districts. Despite bordering Gurgaon District, Haryana’s rich industrial and financial heartland, Nuh had the worst health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development, and basic infrastructure.

Nuh is also the epicentre of cattle smuggling, illegal animal slaughter, and illegal mining, with mafias that run the business often clashing with police and ‘Gau Rakshaks’ (Cow Vigilantes). The mafia operates from the interiors of Nuh District and in the neighbouring Alwar District of Rajasthan, which is also infamous for being a cattle smuggling and illegal slaughter hub. The business is highly lucrative, with cattle stolen from farmsteads worth between INR 25,000 and 35,000 per head. Additional income ’smuggles-in’ from the illicit sale of older animals and capture of stray animals.

The cattle smugglers and vigilantes are engaged in a dangerous ‘cat-and-mouse’ game: the vigilantes, acting on tip-offs, chase vehicles suspected of carrying smuggled cattle; the well-armed cattle smugglers often throw the animals off their vehicles and hurl stones when chased. The police have set up special anti-cattle smuggling cells but have been ‘unable to lasso’ the Gau Rakshaks or the criminal gangs. Confronting cattle smugglers and illegal slaughter is a hazardous job in Nuh, that puts police personnel at tremendous risk. The poor conviction rate under the state’s Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act (Cow Protection Law) has often seen the Courts pull-up the police on more than one occasion.

The region is testimony to stubborn inter-generational development deficits and has bred criminal activities that are part of the reason why Nuh is a communal tinderbox. As an example, Nuh’s Singar village has a total literacy rate of around 30% and a female literacy under 9% according to Census 2011. A large village with more than 3,000 houses, it seems to typify the lack of opportunity. And absence of government attention and exclusion has perhaps led people in Nuh to take to crime in a big way. A report in 2014 highlighted a high incidence of power theft, and government initiatives to electrify villages have faced shocking resistance with people refusing to pay for electricity and attacking Government staff on the job. It required sustained outreach to complete delivery of a power connection to willing households under the Saubhagya Scheme launched by the Central Govt in September 2017.

It was a year ago, in July 2022, that a Deputy Superintendent of Police was run over by a truck driven by illegal miners after he took them by surprise near Tauru. In recent times, Nuh ‘has progressed’ to report cyber and call-centre frauds.

Now coming closer to the present situation.

Three years ago, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) started a Yatra (journey) called the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra- to revive holy Hindu sites and Hindu religious tourism in Meo-Muslim dominated Nuh. The district is home to three ancient Mahabharata period Shiva temples. The Aravallis are also popularised as once being the grazing grounds of Lord Krishna’s cows. The temples have long existed undisturbed and even conserved but aiming to save them from ‘potential threat of being encroached by mosques’ like Kashi Vishwanath or Krishna Janambhoomi, VHP started the Yatra insisting pilgrims would keep the temples relevant.

Typically, the Yatra enters Nuh District from Sohna, begins from Nalhar Mahadev Temple in Nuh, goes to Jhirakeshwar Mahadev and Radha Krishna Temple at Shrangar village. And concludes at the Shringeshwar Mahadev Temple.

The annual Yatra, which was started as a pilgrimage has long been converted into a power show where not just VHP or Bajrang Dal members, but even cow vigilantes participated. Over the past two years, the Yatra was preceded by online ‘war of throwing challenges between participants and local men’. There was always tension surrounding the Yatra which escalated this year. However, all communities have long coexisted in Nuh, peacefully.

This year too, the police called the communities -especially the Muslim and Hindu Groups – in the region to talk to them to maintain peace while according permission for the Yatra.

This Monday the Yatra started like it did in the other two years, but violence began 10 minutes after the procession, of around 200 people, began to walk from Edward Chowk in Nuh town. As the group walked down the main road they were confronted by a group of young men who tried to stop the procession. And they were pelted with stones, rocks sticks, bottles, and illegal firearms by a large Muslim mob, which had gathered at the scene. The Hindu side initially fled, but then they regrouped and retaliated. As the mob tried to disrupt the procession, the two sides came to loggerheads. Stones were pelted and cars were set on fire, and when the Home Guards intervened, they were shot at.

More than 100 vehicles were burnt and people sort refuge in the Nalkeshwar Temple from where the procession was scheduled to begin. Over 150 new motorcycles were looted from a showroom in the area and a cyber police station was attacked. Central paramilitary forces were rushed in to get a grip on the situation in Nuh and a curfew was imposed.

It appears that the violence was carefully organised with a large number of stones and bricks stocked in parks, along roadsides and on roofs, while a number of illegal firearms were used. The police investigation reveals a familiar pattern of WhatsApp groups being formed and ‘tasks’ being allocated and directions issued about where rioters were to gather. In the videos that went viral, minors can also be seen to be part of the mobs that roamed the streets of Nuh on 31 July.

The violence was reportedly triggered after Bajrang Dal activist Monu Manesar – a cow vigilante accused of lynching two Muslim men – circulated a video on Sunday, announcing that he would be part of the procession. He along with one Bittu Bajrangi, urged people to join in large numbers. The murder-accused has been absconding since February this year, after the killings. While Manesar did not attend the Yatra his message appears to have incited locals in Nuh. They have been long demanding that the cow vigilante be arrested.

Tension has been simmering in Nuh since Sunday, a day before the Yatra was scheduled. The procession was attacked soon after it kick-started with stones being pelted from rooftops by members of another community, indicating that the violence was pre-planned.

The situation seems to be in control, and investigations have begun on the reasons, and those responsible. And how to prevent a relapse.

India to the Moon

India’s Chandrayaan-3 was put a path to the Moon with the Trans Lunar Insertion manoeuvre operation successfully completed on 1st August. The spacecraft has now left Earth’s Orbit and is expected to enter Moon’s Orbit in a few days time. Injection into the lunar orbit, so that the spacecraft is pulled into the gravity of the Moon, is a critical phase of the operation and is expected to happen over the weekend.

The next, and the final destination, is the Moon. And a 23rd August Moon Landing is in the cross-hairs of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Women’s Football

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – the ninth edition of the quadrennial international women’s football championship- contested by women’s national teams and organised by FIFA in underway from 20 July to 20 August 2023 in the two hosting countries of Australia and New Zealand.

This is the first tournament to have more than one host nation and the first to feature the expanded format of 32 teams from the previous 24, replicating the same format used for the Men’s World Cup from 1998 to 2022.

The final is scheduled on 20 August at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia. The United States are the defending champions, having won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019.

Some of the women’s stars to look-out for are: Germany’s Jule Brand and Lena Oberdorf; USA’s Alyssa Thompson; Colombia’s Linda Caicedo; Japan’s Maika Hamano; England’s Lauren James and Denmark’s Kathrine Kuhl.

This week thhe Tournament entered the knock-out stage of the last sixteen. The teams that made it are: USA, England, France, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Jamaica, Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Australia, and Japan

World Cup tournaments tend to be defined by an emerging star and, this year, it’s Colombia’s 18 years old sensation Linda Caicedo who is shining brightest.

At just 14, Caicedo made her professional debut for the Colombian side, America de Cali, and finished her first season as the league’s top scorer in her side’s title win. And a few months later she earned her international call-up to the Colombian national side.

Things were progressing quickly for Caicedo, but all was about to come to a halt. At 15, Caicedo was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, shortly after making her senior debut for the national side. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy treatment. And as if it was not enough, it all happened during the Covid19 pandemic. Now she’s fought her way back and is shining like the brightest star in this World Cup.

Please Yourself

Music Throws

Last week, America felt the seismic effects of ‘Swift Quake’. And late last week, singer Cardi B exploded, hurling her microphone at a concertgoer, during a concert at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas, United States.

A concertgoer standing at the edge of the stage tossed up the contents of a large white cup, splashing her face and soaking her orange swimsuit cover-up as she performed her No. 1 hit ‘Bodak Yellow’. She shouted at the person, as security retrieved her microphone and appeared to remove the fan from the outdoor show.

The violence comes amid a wave of recent attacks against performers, including one last week in which a crowd member threw a purse at Canadian rapper, Drake. Last month, a man was charged with assault after hitting pop singer Bebe Rexha with a phone.

More thawing stories coming-up from the cold, in the weeks ahead. Sing with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-30

About: the world this week 23 July to 29 July 2023 – Heat and Fire; Odessa; Spain’s Election; Iraq & Sweden; a coup in Niger; Greece fires; Chandrayaan-3; Singers O’Connor and Tony Bennet; Swift Quake; Movies, ‘Barbenheimer’.

Everywhere

The Odessa Fire

Russia has been launching near-constant attacks on the Ukraine Port City of Odessa, off the Black Sea, since it withdrew from a landmark grain deal – which allowed Ukraine’s grain production to safely leave Port – last week. Russian missiles strikes badly damaged The Transfiguration Cathedral, which is an UNESCO world heritage-listed historic centre. It is Odessa’s largest Orthodox Church and was consecrated in 1809. In the year 1939, it was demolished by the then Soviet Union, and rebuilt in 2003.

The destruction is enormous with half of the cathedral left without a roof, and the central piles and foundation were destroyed. All the windows and stucco moulding were blown out.

UNESCO has been urging Russia to cease attacks on Odessa, to no avail. The city’s historic centre was designated an endangered World Heritage earlier this year, despite Russian opposition.

Spain’s Hot Summer Election

This is Spain’s first general election of modern times held in the searing, fierce heat of mid-summer, when many Spaniards are usually on holiday, probably exploring the world in there own Armadas.

Spain went to the polls in a Election that offered a choice of two starkly contrasting visions: the Socialist Left and the Conservative Right.Two extremes: that’s becoming the norm across many countries in recent times.

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who is Prime Minister (PM) since 2018 hoped the government’s social reforms and its handling of a strongly performing economy will win over voters. His Spanish Socialist Workers Party has been lagging in polls behind the conservative People’s Party (PP) led by Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who wants to roll back many of the socialist reforms of Sanchez.

In the results that were declared this week the conservative Right coalition, which was expected to win, secured only 169 seats. The socialist Left won 153 seats – 122 by Sanchez’s Party and 31 by Minister Yolanda Diaz’s, Sumar.

Both the Left and the Right were far from an absolute majority of 176 seats in Spain’s 350-seat Parliament.

The PP obtained 136 seats – 47 more than 4 years ago. The far-right Vox Party scored 33 seats – 19 less than in 2019 – which adds up to a total of 169 seats in a coalition. With the Vox Party achieving a result worse than in 2019, Feijoo’s chances of forming a PP majority coalition government with it were dashed. If the Vox Party had done better and helped form a government, it would have meant the first far-right involvement in government since ‘Francoist Spain’ under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco Bahamonde, which ended in 1975.

On its part to obtain the 176 seats, Sanchez’s party would need a total of 23 more seats, and their traditional allies in Parliament – all regional parties- together have 19 seats.

The election results have created uncertainty with regards to the future of the next government – causing a possible deadlock. Now they march to the King of Spain to discuss government formation.

PM Pedro Sanchez called the early election after his Party and its far-left partner, Unidas Podemos, were defeated in local and regional elections in May. The move seems to have paid off, though slightly below expectations.

Meanwhile, the King of Spain’s fabulously tailored suits were the hot buzz during the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament: winning praise for the excellent tailoring. And I enjoyed the threads on the science behind them. Some skills His Royal Highness could use to stitch together a government?

Iraq and Sweden: Burning

Last week, Iraq kicked out Sweden’s Ambassador and asked its own Affairs in-Charge in Sweden to pack and return home, amid heightened tensions between the two countries over burning of the Holy Quran.

Last month, Sweden granted permission to an Iraqi refugee to burn the Quran during broader anti-Islam protests outside a Stockholm mosque. Then last week, another planned Quran burning protest was scheduled to take place by the same refugee, who stomped on the holy book. Iraqi protesters responded by storming and setting fire to parts of Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad. Now, Iraq is threatening to sever diplomatic ties with Sweden amid the turmoil and has revoked a Swedish telecom giant’s license to operate in Iraq. For the moment, it’s a tit-for-tat state of affairs between the countries.

How does Sweden allow the burning and the stomping?

Sweden has one of the world’s strongest legal protections for freedom of expression. Sweden’s Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression on any subject, including ‘expressions of opinion that question religious messages, or that can be perceived as hurtful to the believer’. It also scrapped its blasphemy laws in the 1970s. That’s the stage!

Niger Coup

African nations are no strangers to coups and this week it was Niger’s turn.

Niger is a vast, arid country on the edge of the Sahara desert and one of the poorest nations in the world.

On 26 July, soldiers said they have ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, closed the country’s borders, and dissolved Niger’s Constitution. In a national TV address, security forces said the inevitable: ‘a deteriorating security situation and bad governance’ led to the coup. The announcement was made by Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, alongside nine other uniformed soldiers behind him: “We, the defence and security forces… have decided to put an end to the regime you know”.

President Bazoum is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in West Africa. Two neighbouring countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, have experienced coups triggered by jihadist uprisings in recent years. In both countries the new military leaders have fallen out with France, the former colonial power, which also formerly ruled Niger. A French connection?

Greece Fires

Greece has been bracing itself for intense heat last weekend, with meteorologists warning that temperatures could climb as high as 45 degrees Centigrade (113F).

People had been advised to stay home, and tourist sites – including Athens’ ancient Acropolis – was shut during the hottest days. It turned into Greece’s hottest July weekend in 50 years.

In the Greek Island of Rhodes, thousands of people were evacuated from homes and hotels after wildfires engulfed large parts of the island. More than 3,500 people have been evacuated by land and sea to safety. A further 1,200 were evacuated from three villages – Pefki, Lindos, and Kalathos.

Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle dozens of wildfires. The island has been battling wildfires fanned by strong winds since last Tuesday, as Europe deals with a challenging heatwave.

What sparked the fires is yet to be ascertained: arsonists? climate change?

Meanwhile, Greece rightfully declared it is at war with the flames.

On the sidelines, The United Nations stepped-in to say, ‘The era of global warming has ended. The era of global boiling has arrived’. And warnings of unbreathable air and unbearable temperatures is what lies ahead. And Scientists hurried to add that this month is the hottest ever in 1,20,000 years.

India Onwards to the Moon

India’s Chandrayaan-3, which took off from Earth on 14 July on mission to land on the Moon is heading in the right direction. Orbit raising manoeuvres to gradually lift the spacecraft and leave the Earth’s gravity and orbit have been successfully completed. And the next firing, to kick it into the Trans Lunar Orbit on the way to the Moon is scheduled on 1st August. Chandrayaan-3 is following the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) script to the dot, as it inches closer to the Moon.

Singers No More

This week on 26 July, Irish singer, Sinead O’Connor, 56, was found unresponsive in her London Apartment and subsequently declared dead. The death was not teated as suspicious and the medical reason is yet to be ascertained.

The feminist firebrand known for her trademark bald-head appearance was best known for her 1990 song, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ written by Prince – the track made O-Connor a global star, partly due to its iconic video.

Two weeks ago, O’Connor had told her fans that she had recently moved back to London after a 23-year absence – and she was very happy to be home.

Sinead O’ Connor’s debut album, ‘The Lion and the Cobra’, was released in 1987 and charted internationally. He second studio album, ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’, 1990, became her biggest success selling over seven million copies worldwide. It’s lead single, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ was named the number one world single in 1990, by Billboard Music Awards.

O’Conner had a troubled past and spoke of being sexually abused by her parents as a child, saying she was in agony. She consistently spoke out on issues related to child abuse, human rights, racism, organised religion, and women’s rights. She struggled with her mental health and had been dealing with the loss of her 17-year-old son, who died by suicide last year.

In 1999, O’Connor was ordained as priest by the Latin Tridentine Church – not recognised by the main stream Catholic Church. In 2017 she changed her name to Magda Davitt. After converting to Islam in 2018, she became Shuhada Sadaqat.

O’Connor had four children and was married and divorced four times.

Last week saw the passing of another music legend, American jazz and traditional pop singer, Tony Bennet, 97, who died in his home. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and was suffering from it for many years.

He won 20 Grammy Awards; sold more than 50 million records worldwide; earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; broke the Guinness book of World records for the oldest person to release an album of new material at the age of 95 years and 60 days; among many other remarkable achievements in a long singing career.

His signature song, in 1962, ‘I left my heart in San Francisco’, lingers in the heart!

In other swift music news, Singer Taylor Swift is on a music tour. And after two nights of earth-shaking dancing at Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour concert at Lumen Field, Seattle, USA, enthusiastic ‘Swifties’ caused seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to a seismologist. The ‘Swift Quake’ has been compared to the 2011 ‘Beast Quake’, when Seattle Seahawks fans erupted after an impressive touchdown by running-back Marshawn ‘Beast Mode’ Lynch.

Please Yourself

Amid the ongoing, no-end-in-sight Hollywood Writers’ and Actors’ Union strike two much anticipated movies hit the theatres late last week: ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’. Fans got to watch Greta Gerwig’s take on life in plastic and Christopher Nolan’s biopic on the scientist behind the atom bomb. The two films, dubbed ‘Barbenheimer,’ had already sold over 40,000 tickets combined worldwide before release. Though the Unions Strike threaten to hurt the film industry, which lost around $7 billion during the pandemic, the shows must go on. Oppenheimer and Barbie are expected to bring in USD 40 million and USD 80 million respectively in their opening weekend.

This week Barbie did fabulously well at the Box Office -the famous pink was splashed all over Town- and appears to be on its way to becoming a blockbuster success.

Barbie is a fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig and written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. It is based on the Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel. The film follows Barbie – played by Actress Margot Robbie – and Ken – Ryan Gosling- on a journey of self-discovery.

While Barbie dolled-up the Box-Office, Oppenheimer got itself entangled in a ‘spiritual bomb incident’ over the way the Hindu Holy book, Bhagavad Gita was read and portrayed in a scene in the movie.

More pink and other colourful stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay cool with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-29

About: the world this week 16 July to 22 July 2023. The grains of Ukraine; Manipur situation; the new largest office building in the World; Wimbledon Tennis; and AIDS.

Everywhere

Russia and Ukraine

This week, Russia announced that it would no longer allow Ukraine to export its grain by sea. Last year, the United Nations brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative so that Ukraine’s ships could safely bypass Russia’s blockade and get grain to the rest of the world. Now, Russia says it’s pulling out of the deal because of the crippling Western sanctions. This could destabilise global food prices and push 47 million people worldwide into famine or hunger. The European Union is scrambling to find alternative routes, by rail, through Eastern Europe.

Now, one day after the announcement, Russia attacked a Ukrainian grain Port. And launched a series of missile attacks on other cities.

There was a commotion over the United State’s decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine after Ukraine warned that it was running out of ammunition in its counter-offensive against Russia. The cluster bombs have arrived and said to be used ‘wisely’ by Ukraine. And the war continues.

Manipur

India’s State of Manipur is in the deadly grip of ethnic violence, and this week pictures of women of one community being paraded naked by another community shook and stirred the conscience of India. The incident happened on 4th May, but the videos were released only on 19th July – one reason mentioned is that the internet was shut-down in Manipur.

The situation in Manipur is not a one-dimensional one. Read World Inthavaarm 2027 https://kumargovindan.com/2023/07/08/world-inthavaaram-2023-27/on early history of the conflict. About the Meities, the Kuki’s, and the Naga communities, and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Adding more this week.

Women bear the brunt of violence during communal and ethnic riots and we rarely see the perpetrators brought to justice. And if at all arrested, they promptly get bail. In Manipur, violence against women has been a particularly resonant issue ever since the remarkable grass-roots movement for civil rights, Meira Paibi – Women Torch Bearers- in the 1970s. The Meria Paibi fought human rights violations by the paramilitary and armed forces against innocent people. It’s now run by five women leaders, known as ‘imas’ or mothers.

Going back in time, on 15 July 2004, it was that radical protest by 12 Manipuri women, who disrobed themselves and stood in protest at the historic Kangla Fort in Imphal-then the headquarters of the Assam Rifles-carrying banners with messages painted in red. ‘Indian Army Rape Us’, read one. ‘Indian Army Take Our Flesh’, said another. The women were protesting against the brutal killing of Manorama Thangjam, a 32 years old woman who had been picked up by the Assam Rifles under suspicious circumstances. Manorama’s bullet-riddled body was found near a paddy field, hours later. The case was a flashpoint in Manipur and forced the administration to address human rights violations by the Central Forces during the peak of the insurgency-when the various communities of the Hills and Valleys in Manipur were fighting each other.

Recall that a woman, Irom Chanu Sharmila’s 16 year long hunger strike for the repeal of AFSPA contributed towards changing the discourse on insurgency in the State.

The Assam Rifles is a central paramilitary force responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India. It primarily guards the Indo-Myanmar border. And is one of the Central Armed Police Forces administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The AFSPA was used sporadically in the hill districts of Manipur to tackle insurgency before being imposed across the whole state in 1980. Resentment against the security forces’ alleged excesses began as early as 1974, when a local woman committed suicide after she was allegedly raped by a Border Security Force officer, who faced no action for the suspected crime.

In March this year, in a significant move, the Central Government had withdrawn AFSPA from certain areas in Manipur, citing ‘significant improvement in the law and order situation’.

There is another angle to the Manipur situation, a destabilising factor: armed insurgents from Myanmar-many of whom have kinship ties with transnational ethnic communities straddling India and its immediate neighbours-slipping into the northeastern states through the porous border and adding to the complexity of Kuki-Meitei clashes and exacerbating the ongoing conflict in Manipur.

To escape the crackdown by neighbouring Myanmar’s military regime, ethnic Kuki-Chin (the Chin are an ethnic community native of the Chin state of Myanmar) people have entered India by thousands since the Myanmar coup in 2021. According to figures from UNHCR -the refugee agency of the United Nations- the ongoing civil war in Myanmar has displaced 1,827,000 people since February 2021, among which over 53000, mostly from the conflict-ridden Chin state and Sagaing region of Myanmar-the hotbed of armed resistance against the junta-have entered India’s northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur till the month of May 2023.

In the last week of April this year, a random identification drive by the Manipur Government as part of the population commission’s work -which was was set up last year to track illegal immigration- identified about 2180 undocumented Myanmar nationals in the districts of Chandel, Churachandpu, andTengnoupal. These are Kuki-dominated districts along the Myanmar border.

During the recent All-Party meet in Manipur, India’s Home Minister said biometrics of people coming from across the border are being recorded and “for a permanent solution” to the instability in Manipur, “we have set up wired fencing across 10 kilometres (km) of the Manipur-Myanmar border on a trial basis, work tender has been invited for fencing on another 80 km, and a survey for fencing the rest of the Manipur-Myanmar border is being initiated.”

Now to the last angle – the drug angle- without which the complex web of issues behind the ethnic clashes in Manipur will remain incomplete; a reference that has repeatedly cropped up during high-level interactions between India and Myanmar.

Myanmar has become the ‘largest producer of illegal drugs within the infamous Golden Triangle—a tri-junction at the Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand borders that makes its way to India through the porous border.

Supply of drugs from the Golden Triangle remains a persisting problem. In recent times, however, poppy cultivation has proliferated in the hilly areas of Manipur and the Narcotics trade is playing a significant role in the Manipur violence. And drug cartels are utilising large chunks of the hilly districts for ‘quality poppy cultivation’.

While Kuki-Chin ingress has happened in Manipur over decades, what has happened over the past few years is an explosion in poppy cultivation in Manipur’s Kuki-dominated districts backed by drug cartels and insurgent groups with a cross-border network, resulting in huge loss of forest cover: a problem that aggravated since the Myanmar 2021 military coup when the influx of the persecuted Kuki-Chin community intensified. It is believed that a section of these illegal immigrants is being used by the drug and weapon cartels in Manipur.

As Manipur shifts its status from a transit route for drugs to a major producer, fuelled by armed refugees from Myanmar, observers say opium cultivation in Manipur seems to be more integrated within the regional drug economy and connected to other actors, notably from Myanmar.

The present Government of Manipur has tackled the drug menace to a great extent and about INR 1500 crore of drugs were busted in the past few years.

It is evident that a knotty vortex of issues has contributed to instability in Manipur besides the said majoritarianism of one community.

Yet, even though women have led the political discourse on rights, they continue to be prime targets for mobs in times of strife.

Surat

For 80 long years, The Pentagon of the United States of America was the world’s largest office building with about 6.6 million square feet of floor space. Now a new building in India just whacked-off that title: the Surat Diamond Bourse, built in India’s gem capital, Surat, Gujarat, India – about 240km north of Mumbai.

The Belgian city of Antwerp may be known as the world’s diamond trading hub, while most rough stones are mined in Russia or Africa. But it is in Surat, where around 90% of all the planet’s diamonds are cut.

Spanning over 35 acres of land, the sprawling 15-storey Surat Diamond Bourse complex with 7.1 million square feet of floor space accommodates 4,700 offices and 131 elevators. It has been constructed to house the diamond industry – to serve as a one stop shop for over 65,000 diamond professionals, including cutters, polishers and traders. It features a series of nine interconnected rectangular structures emanating from a central ‘spine’, resembling the layout of an airport terminal.

The state-of-the-art building has features designed to consume up to 50% less energy, qualifying it for a ‘platinum’ rating from the Indian Green Building Council. It incorporates a radiant cooling system that circulates chilled water beneath its floors, which will reduce indoor temperatures. Further, solar energy powers the common areas within the building.

The mammoth office space will save people’s time and resources: especially those who travel to Mumbai, with some people have to spend up to four hours, daily, to come from their homes to their offices and back home again.

The project took about four years to complete, including two years of COVID19 pandemic related delay. The building will be officially opened later this year by India’s Prime Minister, and host its first occupants in November.

The Surat Diamond Bourse is designed by Indian architecture firm Morphogenesis, based in New Delhi, following an international design competition. The project’s size was dictated by demand with all offices purchased by diamond companies prior to construction.

The design was also influenced by Morphogenesis’ research into how the Indian diamond trade operates. The series of nine 1.5-acre courtyards, complete with seating and water features, serve as casual meeting places for traders; the landscaped area becomes the ‘traditional bazaar’ where any informal transactions take place outside the office environment. Email orders are probably taken inside, but human-to-human transactions are almost all outside. The courtyards are described a public parks where it is assumed all these activities will take place.

The Moon

India’s Moon-mission spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 is enjoying the ‘space sights’ on its way to the Moon and is in superb health, since its launch last week. India’s ISRO Scientists have been manoeuvring it gradually to longer orbits around the Earth and a 4th such manoeuvre was also completed this week. The last will be on 25 July after which it will be nudged into the lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon. Likewise, it will dance around the Moon before deciding to land.

Wondered why is takes more than 40 days to cover the nearly 3,84,000 km distance between the Earth and Moon when the USA, Russia and China do it under a week’s time?

India does not, as yet, have a powerful enough launcher to take it directly to the lunar transfer trajectory, hence this less costly means of cleverly using the Earth’s gravity to slingshot out of the Earth’s pull and then get into the lunar orbit. And again squeezing every bit of the Moon’s low gravity to make a soft landing.

Tennis

This year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championship in London, which ended this Sunday, served us two brand new winners in the Women’s Singles, and the Men’s Singles.

Czechoslovakia’s ‘much-tattooed’ 24 years old Marketa Vondrousova beat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in straight-sets 6-4, 6-4 to clinch her maiden Wimbledon Women’s Singles Title. Vondrousova is also a silver medallist at the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics. And she is the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon Women’s Singles.

She got the first of many tattoos on her arms at the age of sixteen. And some have special significance, such as her lucky number 13, the Olympic Rings, and the quote, ‘No rain, no flowers’ (success does not come easily) above her right elbow. After winning Wimbledon, she and her coach Jan Hernych plan to get a matching tattoo in celebration-they pledged to so do if she won. A tattoo parlour in Prague, Czechoslovakia is their next destination!

But, the best was in the Men’s Singles.

Spain’s 20 years old Carlos Alcaraz beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals and went on to stun and end Serbia’s Novak Djokovic’s reign with a classic and enthralling 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 match. It was a four hours and forty-two minute battle on the Centre Court of the All England Club. Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest player to earn the year-end World No. 1 honour. And this is his first Wimbledon Title – keeping the World No.1 ranking.

Djokovic holds this year’s Australian Open and French Open Titles and was aiming to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles and match Margaret Court’s all time record of 24 Grand Slam victories.

Margaret Court is an Australian former World No 1 women’s tennis player and considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Her 24 major singles titles and overall 64 major titles (doubles and mixed-doubles) is the most by anyone in Tennis history. She dominated women’s tennis in the 1960s with a powerful serve and volley game, and retired in 1972.

About, the new Wimbledon Champion, the best comment from Djokovic himself, “People have been talking about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I’d agree with that, He’s basically got the best of all three worlds…I haven’t played a player like him ever”.

AIDS

Long before the COVID19 pandemic stole our breath away another not so contagious but nevertheless deadly pandemic ruled the world: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And we still do not have an effective cure for it since it first came to light in the 1980s.

A new report says that the end may be in sight for AIDS. The Joint United Nations (UN) Program on HIV and AIDS says that Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have all reached ’95-95-95’ targets, meaning 95% of the people who are living with HIV know their status, 95% of those people are on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of people in treatment are virally suppressed.

Across eastern and Southern Africa, new HIV infections have been reduced by 57% since 2010. Also since 2010, the percentage of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV who have access to antiretroviral treatment has nearly doubled, and new infections among children have more than halved.

There’s more work to be done, but the UN said the world could end AIDS by 2030 if we stay the course keep-up the investment from World leaders.

More clusters of stories will be fired in the weeks ahead. Stay safe with World Inthavaaram.

This is my Blog where I essay stories on life about and around me, on subjects that stir and shake me up, as I turn, and make life's pages count: hoping to inspire you to live your own story!

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